agenda practical support to help entrepreneurs
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One of the companies to venture
into this once unfashionable district was international mobile satellite fi rm Inmarsat, which moved its global headquarters to City Road in 1993. Subsequently, ‘Britart’s’ enfant terrible Damien Hirst and fellow artists arrived in neighbouring Hoxton around 2003, occupying large factory spaces as studios, and the area really took off. Eric Van der Kleij is the founder of
venture-backed Adeptra, a multinational pioneer of automated credit-card fraud detection and collections. He recently became chief executive of the Tech City Investment Organisation (TCIO), a team of experienced entrepreneurs and specialists set up by UK Trade & Investment which, working with public bodies such as London Borough Councils, London & Partners and the Greater London Authority, provides practical support to help corporates, investors and innovative start-up companies to locate in East London. He’s not surprised by the area’s renaissance. “It wasn’t always so culturally and
socially rich,” he says. “But when Hirst and his followers moved in, taking advantage of the low rents, other creative industries and some major agencies followed. There are now 100 art galleries within walking distance of the roundabout, whose affl uent customers come from around the world and from the City and West End – both districts are close, with good transport links.” The East London Line’s Shoreditch High Street station was opened in April 2010 and the St Pancras Eurostar terminal is less than 10 minutes from Old Street. With the new businesses came
bars, pubs, music venues and private members’ clubs. “The area has a rich cultural diversity,” says Van der Kleij.
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He mentions “the characterful Tea and Biscuit buildings”, whose tenants include architects, designers, consultants, galleries, advertising agencies and the Prince’s Drawing School, “where you’ll fi nd 19 different nationalities developing next- generation applications for mobile devices. That kind of environment feeds the creative mind, and has led to the evolution of digital and creative businesses locally.” Historically, the East End has always
embraced generations of newcomers, he points out, with Spitalfi elds having been home successively to Huguenot, Jewish and Bangladeshi communities – all becoming “net contributors to the UK economy”, he says. “Britain’s cultural openness has always made it easier for it to accept and benefi t from the infl ux of cultures and change.” The term ‘Silicon Roundabout’ was
coined three years ago by Matt Biddulph, then CTO of social network Dopplr, who defi ned it as “the ever-growing community of fun start-ups in London’s Old Street area.” Since Dopplr was acquired by Nokia in late 2009, Biddulph has been head of data strategy for Ovi products at Nokia in Berlin. He says: “The area’s tech start-up scene has been
building up over the last fi ve years or so. Dopplr moved into Hoxton Street in 2007 and
Last.fm has been in offi ces near the roundabout even longer. It’s accelerated since the media attention on ‘Silicon Roundabout’ and Tech City because the social ties between the companies in the area are very strong, making it relatively easy for newcomers to grow their network of personal connections.” News of the TSB’s £1m injection
into the Tech City area leaves Biddulph wanting more, however.
TECH SUPPORT “For tech start-ups, angel and venture
capital investment funds are more important than Government funding,” says Biddulph. “The Government should do everything it can to focus international investors on the exciting opportunities in Tech City. After all, £1m is a drop in the ocean compared to the billions of dollars invested privately each year in tech fi rms in Silicon Valley.” That’s where the TCIO comes in.
It has four key roles, explains Van der Kleij. “The overall imperative is to help develop the incredible organic growth already taking place to enable Tech City to become the acknowledged hub for technical digital start-ups in Europe,” he says. “Firstly, we help those major international fi rms that have committed to Tech City to deliver on their commitments, as well as getting new major corporates to consider the area. “Secondly, we attract entrepreneurs
by telling them about the favourable conditions for start-ups, such as the improvements in capital gains tax (now only 10 per cent on the fi rst £10m), the R&D tax credit for small companies, now
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